The Generation of the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

  Between the fantastical tales of dragons and animated superheroes, the contours of childhood are shaped in the minds of our sons and daughters. This raises a generation with confused notions of heroism, drawing its values from sources that have no connection to its glory or history.

The Urgent Need to Revive Their Stories

Amidst this soft invasion of consciousness, an urgent need emerges to revive the biographies of the Companions and the Successors in the hearts of the youth. They are the true role models, those who carved the glory of this nation with their tears, blood, prostrations, and patience, and those whom Allah loved and was pleased with.

A National and Educational Imperative

Instilling love for the Companions' stories in children and young people is not a cultural luxury, but an educational necessity, a matter of national security, and an identity safeguard. A nation that does not know its true heroes will quickly embrace foreign models that tamper with its concepts and erode the wall of its constants. Living nations have understood this for centuries, planting in the minds of their children the names of their leaders, philosophers, and inventors, so much so that a European or American child knows Napoleon, Einstein, and Beethoven as well as they know their own name!

How to Cultivate Love for the Companions

So, how do we instill the love of the Companions in a child's heart? The beginning is at home, from the mother's embrace and the father's heart, when a child is told before bed a story of Abdullah ibn Umar's piety, or Khalid ibn Al-Walid's battles, or Asma bint Abi Bakr's courage. Their imagination begins to get accustomed to real models with spiritual and moral content. This storytelling must be a daily habit, like dinner, even tastier and more delightful. Parents can encourage their children to act out the stories in simple family role-playing scenes, reinforcing understanding and solidifying values. The child should be rewarded when they emulate a Companion, not when they imitate a cartoon hero.

The Role of the School

Then comes the school, which is not enough to merely cram students' minds with the names and dates of battles. It must narrate events with emotion and connect the lives of the Companions with the child's life. Have we tried teaching the biography of Mus'ab ibn Umayr as an expression of the transition from a life of luxury to a life of da'wah (inviting to Islam)? Have we drawn a graph of Omar ibn Al-Khattab's stances on justice and connected them to the various forms of injustice the student sees in the world? Have we allowed students to reenact the speeches of Abu Bakr or the (admonitions) of Ali?

Social Media: A Crucial Arena

As for social media, this is where the most impactful battle lies. We must produce attractive visual content about the lives of the Companions, in short clips that carry memorable quotes, emotional messages, and dramatic visuals without being cheap or superficial. Let's have digital challenges and competitions: "Which Companion are you like?" or "Great Moments in a Minute," through which we re-export educational content with the spirit of the age and the language of the platform.

Presenting Them as Complete Human Models

Amidst all of this, we must reconsider the way we present the Companions. They are not just names in biography books, but complete human models. A Companion is one who loved the Prophet (peace be upon him), pledged allegiance to him, believed him, and strived in his presence. Among them were leaders and jurists, poets and merchants, the elderly and the young, and even children. We must present them as people like us, but who were truthful and thus excelled, and who acted and thus became a history to be narrated.

The Role of Scholars and Educators

Then comes the role of scholars and educators in grounding this path. The Companions are the best generations of the Ummah, and emulating them is included in the generality of Allah's saying: "Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example." (Al-Ahzab: 21). Imam Malik said: "The first of this Ummah was upon guidance, and the last of it will not be rectified except by what rectified its first."

Building a Future Generation

Indeed, a nation that raises its children on the love of the Companions instills in them the meanings of loyalty and belonging and sets them on the path of leadership. The generation of the Companions is not a past to be narrated, but a project to be revived, a nation to be built, and a path towards empowerment. Let every home among us have a "hero from the Companions," whom we tell our children about, whose life we live, and whose name we link to our daily supplications, hoping that we may be among those about whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "A person is with whom they love."

Will We Start Today?

So, shall we begin today to forge this generation?